Red Nightmare

I've been showing this Cold War chestnut to my Constitutional Law students for at least fifteen years. I screen it during our examination of First Amendment cases from the 50s and early 60s. That was when the Supreme Court initially upheld convictions of leading American communists (mostly older, suit wearing and essentially harmless types). Increasingly alarmed that First Amendment freedoms were being sacrificed to fears of a "putsch" that never seemed to be imminent or even real, the Court began overturning convictions while simultaneously expanding free speech protections.

The older students remember the times but most are in their early to mid-twenties and they can't believe tax dollars paid for Jack Webb, employing his best "Sergeant Friday" monotone, to warn Americans about the danger of taking freedom for granted and ignoring the threat of insidious Soviet subversion.

What gets the most laughs are the domestic scenes where "Father Knows Best" is hijacked to deliver the political message. The housewife is a stay-at-home who is assured by her laid back husband that she's no worse a nag than most spouses. The kids are just so adorable. Even the teenage daughter determined to marry her sweetheart can't mount more than a mild sullenness when dad objects to an early marriage. Sheesh!

Hubby's "Red Nightmare," his night of a bad dream, gives a good portrayal of the 1950s view of how the Communists - domestic and conquering - would wipe out all our freedoms. Reflecting the fears that swept Hollywood in the age of HUAC and Mc Carthy, the viewer is assured that this very important film was produced under "the direct supervision of Jack L. Warner."

If you want to really get a flavor of that fear-laden time, check out http://www.conelrad.com.

This educational short – intended as a propaganda piece, solemnly narrated by Jack Webb (a familiar face of the era) and personally overseen by movie mogul Jack L. Warner – feels very much like an episode of "The Twilight Zone". As in INVASION USA (1952), on whose DVD it's included, the politics are hard to take nowadays – though the fantasy, albeit moralistic, framework of the narrative (wherein a passive working-class American wakes up one morning to find his hometown overrun by the Communists) makes it at least palatable in an IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) sort of way. On the other hand, being compact and on a much smaller scale than the earlier feature-film, it's easier to suspend belief in its case. By the way, George Waggner (billed "waGGner", for whatever reason) is best-known for his stint directing such classic Universal chillers as THE WOLF MAN (1941).

I suppose it's to be expected that this film laid on the anti-Communism a bit thick. Red Nightmare was a film for our Armed Services that Warner Brothers produced on their lot which utilized a whole lot of familiar faces from their television shows. Jack Webb in his patented staccato style narrated the film where Jack Kelly plays Mr. Average American who takes his American way of life quite for granted.

The funny thing is that I have no real problem with films encouraging greater citizen participation. Where folks might differ is the result of said participation. Nor do I have a problem with anti-Communism either as long as it doesn't involve persecution of people whose opinions are to the left of the then president of the United States when this film was made.

But this film ratcheted up the paranoia scale to unbelievable heights. We see Kelly in his daily life with wife Jeanne Cooper, daughter Pat Woodell and two other younger kids and Woodell's boyfriend Peter Brown. Job, family life are just stuff Kelly takes for granted.

But at night Kelly has an It's A Wonderful Life type dream as he sees his same life after a People's government has taken over the USA. And there's no angel named Clarence to get him out.

As there are a few survivors left from the cast I wonder how many of them feel about this film seen today.

Red Nightmare (1962) was a government promo film produced by narrator Jack Webb. It was made to scare the populous and to encourage young men to join the fight against terrorism. Today this movie is nothing more than a reminder about how scared the government actually was of the "reds" and their ideology. The short plays out like a badly written and acted version of a Twilight Zone episode. The acting ranges from hammy to wooden at times. It pretty silly at times and if you're in the mood a great watch.

What's even scarier is if you ever get a chance to watch this propaganda piece, just place the word terrorists instead of communists. In some ways this movie can still be used and made today (with some obvious tweaking of course). A sad reminder of what times we lived in during the red scare days of the early 50's to late 60's (but the "threat" never faded away until the late 80's). Oh well, it's a fun watch for those who like to "relive the days of yesteryear!"

Recommend for historical purposes.

Looking back today, it's still hard to believe that as late as 1962 we'd be seeing propaganda films like this. But then, this was made around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, so in that sense it figures. But in a way, one can see why some people would believe (as many reference books have claimed) that this piece came out in or around 1957, since the '50's were the height of anti-Communist hysteria in America, although Mr. Webb's necktie and jacket lapels were far too narrow for that year, more appropriate for the early '60's. Another key that this was a 1962 piece, if nothing else, was the presence of a young actress who within a year would go on to become the first Bobbie Jo Bradley on "Petticoat Junction", Pat (billed here as Patricia) Woodell. The year this was filmed, she also put in guest shots on some Warner Bros.-produced shows such as "Hawaiian Eye" (whose star, Robert Conrad, also appeared here) and "The Gallant Men", being at the time she was under contract to that studio.